Sample Paper

The Charles River Bridge Case

The Charles River Bridge CaseIn 1835, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall died. Since Marshall had served as Chief Justice for over 30 years and had done much to shape the Judiciary, no one quite knew what to expect when President Andrew Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney to replace him. (Henretta 327) Americans would soon find that Taney would not imitate Marshall’s pro-Federalist decisions. In 1837, the landmark case of Charles River Bridge Co. v. Warren Bridge Co. was decided by the Supreme Court. In 1785, the Massachusetts legislature had chartered the Charles River Bridge Company to construct a bridge connecting Charlestown to Boston. (Ariens 1) When the legislature allowed a group of merchants from Charlestown to build the Warren Bridge connecting the same areas, the owners of the Charles River Bridge sued to halt its construction. In a reversal of the Marshall Court’s tendency to support the sanctity of contracts and property, Taney ruled in favor of the defendants by maintaining that the Massachusetts legislature retained the power to charter a competing bridge company. (Bailey 253)
The Charles River Bridge Case was groundbreaking in several ways. In his decision, Taney stated that, “While the rights of private property are sacredly guarded, we must not forget that the community also has rights.” (Henretta 327) This appeal to the public exemplified the democratic spirit of the Jacksonian period and the demise of the Hamiltonian protection of individual and corporate wealth characteristic of the Marshall court. In the wake of the case, competitive enterprise grew and charters for railroads to compete with canals and turnpikes proliferated. The decision also reflected Taney’s animosity toward Hamiltonian monopolies like the Bank of the United States and foreshadowed his preference for states rights over federal power. (“Taney” 24)

Works Cited

Ariens, Michael. “Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge.” michaelariens.com.29 October 2004 <http://michaelariens.com/ConLaw/cases/charlesriver.htm>

Bailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Spirit. New York:Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Henretta, James A., David Brody, and Lynn Dumeil. America: A Concise History. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.

“Taney, Roger Brooke.” The Worldbook Encyclopedia. 2004.

One-Page Paper Assignment (due Monday 10/5)

Research and write a one-page (@300 words) paper on the topic assigned to you below. Title the paper at the center of the top line, but do not change the settings (1” top and bottom margins, 1.25” left and right margins) and be sure to double-space and use size 12 Times New Roman font. Use parenthetical citation and include a Works Cited list that has one book, one encyclopedia entry, and one on-line source. You must also use and cite one quote in your paper.

These papers should contain two paragraphs, one that presents a brief biography of your writer and one that discusses his or her relative position and importance within the Romantic movement. These papers are due on Monday, October 5 and will be worth 50 points, 15 for the list of Works Cited, 10 for accurate citations, and 25 for the appearance, structure, and content. Be sure to refer to the MLA section of the Hacker guide as you construct your paper!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Caroline
William Blake – Michael
William Wordsworth – Julie
John Keats – Portia
Percy Bysse Shelley – Luke
Heinrich Heine – Emalie
George Gordon, Lord Byron – Nathaniel
Johan Wolfgang von Goethe – Grace
Novalis – Charlotte
Walt Whitman – Emily
Robert Burns – Audrey

Poetry Quiz II Thursday 9/25

We will have our second poetry quiz Thursday (50 pts.). This will be mainly a multiple choice exercise, and you will need to know the following terms to do well on it:

Assonance
Alliteration
Synesthesia
Onomatopoeia
Ceasura
Rhyme
Meter
Tone
Consonance

The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1660 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters 10-13 won't hurt either.

Poetry Quiz I Wednesday

We will have our first poetry quiz tomorrow (50 pts.). This will be mainly a multiple choice exercise, and you will need to know the following terms to do well on it:

Simile
Apostrophe
Metaphor
Personification
Metonymy
Allusion
Paradox

The link I posted earlier will help, as will the glossary of terms on p. 1660 of Perrine's. Re-reading chapters five and seven won't hurt either.

Poetry Paper #1

Poetry Paper #1 – Using the suggestions on page 8 of “Writing about Literature” in Perrine’s, write a paper comparing and contrasting any two poems in the poetry section of the text. (pp 647-1024) This paper should be a minimum of 500 words, typed and double-spaced.We are going to workshop this paper, so you need to keep to the following schedule:


Poems and topic of paper selected and e-mailed to me – Monday 9/14
Thesis and outline of paper – Thursday 9/17
First draft of paper – Monday 9/21
Second draft – Wednesday 9/23
Final draft – Friday 9/25

HW for Thursday 9/10

Read Ch. 5 (pp 714-724) and complete the 10-question exercise on p. 724.

Poetic Terms Site and HW for Wednesday 9/9

Bookmark the site below and refer to it regularly throughout the remainder of the term.

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/glossary_of_poetic_terms.htm

For Wednesday, pick any two poems in the book (make sure you have a first and second choice). Paraphrase each and be prepared to read either one out loud in class.